Voting is now closed.
Our featured spookmaster will be "Hag-rteho the Masked Merchant"!

Hag-rteho and his lackeys will see you guys in October...! >8)

Design an NPC: SPOOKY EDITION

Think you can come up with a spooky, haunting design that'll scare the pants gem right off of your fellow Gembound? Well, give it your best shot!! That's right, we're challenging you to give us your scariest and craziest ideas!

— You do not have to draw your design! Describe to us in the best detail possible what you have in mind and we'll do our best rendition if you don't want to provide artwork; if you do want to provide us with artwork or concept sketches, let us know if you want us to polish it or if it's okay that we add to it in case we use it for... something.

— You can choose the element and stone, of course. It's your design! You are not restricted by size, but it can't be the size of like ten mountains, okay. Let's be a little conservative. Maybe three mountains.

— Speaking of not being restricted, you are also free to design with any passive elemental qualities in mind. Please feel free to go wild! If you are ever unsure during your design process, you are welcome to ask. If you want to keep your design a secret, you can PM/DM one of us to ask as well.

— You can choose to provide a name and title if you want. If you don't want to, we will find a suitable name and title for your spookie thing!

— Your designs must be appropriate to our site rating of 3-2-3.

On September 23rd we will condense submissions and open a poll for several days so that you can vote for your favorite spooks. Participants will receive a magicka reward for their efforts.

The spookiest winner will haunt the caves in October, and everyone else will be their minions! Nobody's designs will go unused! *Note! This means if you do not want us to use your design for the upcoming event, regardless if it wins or not, please note this on your submission so we know whether or not to weave it into our plans. Thank you!

September 23 • Submissions for this contest end and voting begins
September 27 • Voting for submissions ends and artwork (if applicable) begins

@Hikari @Sebastian @Gluttony @Castor
Please add these forms to your submissions! Future submissions, please include this with your entry.

Name/Title: If you have one
Element/Path:
Stone and Location:
Other: Any other information you think is important.

Code:

<b>Name/Title:</b>
<b>Element/Path:</b>
<b>Stone and Location:</b>
<b>Other:</b>

???
The Terror of the Caves
Slinking in the shadows, just out of the corner of your eye—what's that? When you turn to look, nothing's there.

You keep moving. It must've been just a trick of the light. After all, there's nothing in the shadows. You stopped being afraid of the dark a long time ago. You put it out of your mind.

Later, when you're settling down in your den, just as you're about to fall asleep, you hear the sound of growling. You jolt awake, heart pounding. When you look, nothing's there.

You try to settle down to sleep again, but when you close your eyes, the growling gets louder. The growling gets closer. You see it again, on the edge of your vision—but when you turn to look, nothing's there. You run, trying to make it to somewhere you know it couldn't possibly reach. You lay down once you get there, out of breath and exhausted. As you settle down, something catches your eye. There—a shadow on the wall. But, wait, was it really a shadow? Did something follow you?

You run, again, to another place, certain it's followed you. Doubt tugs at the edge of your mind; are you just going crazy? Did you imagine this? Where the growls just illusions, or something perfectly innocuous? You look behind you. Nothing's there.

Your tongue lolls out of your mouth as you curl up to finally get some sleep. You're tired, so very tired. You feel like you've just run a marathon, and all of that work for noth—

Wait. A shadow, where there should be none. Rough, guttural noises in the distance, like a dog being choked. You stand, weakly, making an attempt to run. You're looking behind you as best you can, but all for no use; your vision is dizzy with exhaustion. When you look, nothing's there. When you inevitably collapse, you feel something brush against you, hear a low crooning in your ear as something (are you dreaming?) praises you.

"You've lasted so long," it says. (is this real?)

"You've made it so far," it says. (are you hallucinating?)

"You're going to taste so sweet." (wait, no-)

You feel a sharp spike of pain in your neck, then, nothing.
-----

Whatever this thing is, it takes great pleasure in scaring others, entrapping them in its games only to bite back laughter at the sight of them passing out. It's a Light user, constantly shrouded in shadow due to its overuse of the spell Dissipate. A near-constant use of Shadowplay makes sure nothing will ever see its face. Its victims- those not too exhausted to see, anyways- only see the front legs of a wolfish figure, too tall for a real wolf. Upon its front left ankle is a perfect ring of feldspar, almost like an amulet.

Despite its mastery of shadow spells, this creature is actually a Genius. Many of its tricks and traps are not made of magic, but rather, set up beforehand. It'll resort to tricking others with its mind before tricking them with its magic.

When it's not hunting (for sport, mostly. it rarely eats.), it often waits as close to the Spire as it can, using the magic to fuel its shroud of shadow. It'll call over any Gembounds it sees, speaking sugar-sweet words, using whatever it can to convince them to stay under their metaphorical wing, mentoring them and keeping them as close as possible until it eventually pulls them into one of its little games and kills them.

(A/N: Get creative with its games! I went with a little pursuit predation because that's always creepy, but don't limit yourself to just that! I want to see what the GMs can come up with! )

Name/Title: ????, The Terror of the Caves
Element/Path: Light, Genius
Stone and Location: Perfect ring of feldspar around its front left ankle
Other:I do have an actual appearance for this character, but I want to keep it secret- PM me or DM me on Discord if you want to know more about it!

Name/Title: up to y'all
Element/Path: up to y'all
Stone and Location: up to y'all
Other:

At first, you could think he was just a normal dog.

Sure, he was huge - standing eight feet at the shoulder. And he seemed... lumpy. And sure, he was hard to make out, but surely that was just the light?

But as you get nearer, a chill runs through you. You feel as though something is closing around you, tighting around your lungs in your chest. You gasp, but the closer you get the harder it is to draw breath.

And then, suddenly, he is in front of you.

And there is no denying that he is some normal dog.

He snarls silently, pale, sickly lips pulling back from yellowed, red-stained teeth. His canines are far too long, looking like they should be sticking out when his mouth closes.

Shadows seem to bloom from him, filling the area like a creeping fog. Wherever the shadows touch, it seems to drain of color, fading away. The shadows seem to obscure his figure, only his glowing red eyes peering out until he is just in front of you.

He is eerily emaciated, little more than a gleaming black pelt held tight to his skeleton. You can make out the bones of his face as he glowers at you.

Before you know it, you are running. You are gasping for breath, your muscles are burning.

And you can't hear it behind you. But every time you dare to look over your shoulder, it has gained on you. Its breaths make no sound, its paws silent on the ground, leaving no footprints.

As he closes in on you, the shadows begin to reach for you. And as they touch you, you begin to hear... things.

At first, merely whispers, and no matter how hard you strain your ears, you can't make out what they are saying. It's ten body lengths away from you.

Nine, and you can make out your name among the whispers.

Eight, and they are murmuring threats.

Seven, and the voices have changed. Have turned into the voices of your loved ones.

Six, and your loved ones are saying things that they have said before, words that had hurt, among their threats.

Five, and the voices of your enemies are beginning to weave in with your loved ones.

Four, and you can't hear your loved ones anymore, just your enemies.

Three, and your enemies begin to threaten your loved ones, instead. Whispering the horrific things they'll do to them.

Two, and your loved ones begin to beg for your help.

One, and your loved ones begin to scream, to beg for mercy, to shriek, 'why won't you help us?!'

No matter how far you run, how fast you run, or where you go, he will find you.

There is no escape.

You can't hear anything. Not your own breathing, your feet hitting the ground, or even the voices anymore.

He strikes.

Name/Title: To Be Decided
Element/Path: Arcane/Master
Stone and Location: Black Sardonyx as a small bone in their arm
Other: Although this thing has mastered Arcane, it also knows a few lights spells that they use to help conceal themselves. (Dissapate, Shadowplay, Summon Void, Multishadow, Aether Dance)

You lay your head down, finally able to rest. Sleep engulfs your whole body, a dreamless void, but only for a while.

---

You pick your head up, yawning as you shake off the sleepiness in your bones. Your stomach rumbles, demanding food. Slowly, your rise and make your way from your den, blinking slowly. Huh? What's this? The world as you knew it is different. A dark mist shrouds the room, a cold chilling you to your core. You shake it off, maybe its just colder today.

Fresh water tastes good, it wakes you up. Your ears flick to the sound of a weak bleat, one of the Cave Deer that roamed Origin. Easy breakfast. You slowly stalk your way towards the location of the weak bleating, the stench of death hanging in the air. Through the heavy mist, you can spy the Cave Deer laving on its side, head raised slightly as it weakly bleats.

Upon further approaching, you realize it looks more like a large horse. What kind of horse sounds like a Cave Deer? Ignoring the oddity, you come closer. Suddenly, your paw is gripped. Your being pulled closer and closer to what now seems to be the hunter. You can see it clearly now, half emaciated horse, half something from your nightmares. It raises its head, a creepy mask on its face. A simple smile, yet oh so creepy. It stands, much bigger than you thought. The tentacles that pull you closer are coming from behind the mask, but you have to stare up to see it. The creature easily towers over you, eight feet tall.

Its hooves stomp impatiently as your raised off the ground, struggling and scratching and biting the creature until your exhausted. The tentacles raise the mask from the face, only to reveal a set of monstrous spider fangs and two beady white eyes. The only drop of color on the dark creature.

It opens its maw, venomous drool dribbling down a fang as it stares at you. You whimper in fear then shriek as it pulls you closer towards it gaping jaws.

---

You wake up in a cold sweat, your eyes closed tightly. You're afraid to open them, but eventually, you work up the courage to do so. Nothing's there. It's okay. It was only a dream. A terrifying, vivid dream. You let out a shaky breath and stand, peering outside your den. Nothing at all. It's okay. The world is fine. You smile, heading outside, off to go enjoy your day.

---

Two days had passed, and you had forgotten about the dream. As you woke up on the third morning, you went outside. Again, the world was shrouded in mist. It felt familiar, but you couldn't quite put your paw on it. You take a drink of water, and your stomach grumbles. You decide to go find food and hear the bleat of a dying cave deer. 'This seems so familiar...' You think to yourself, but shake it off. It's probably nothing.

You find the Cave Deer though it seems... off. Too easy. But you weren't one to argue with a free meal. You approach, and suddenly it hits you. The dream. It was happening again. You freeze, staring at the creature. It raises its head, its neck bent at an impossible angle. Almost as if it's broken. It stands, taking a step closer. You come to your senses and turn, running as fast as you can.

The clop of hooves is deafening. Quiet whispers fill your ears, you can't understand what they mean. All you know is they aren't good. A quick glance over your shoulder, and it's gained on you, tentacles reaching out from behind the mask in an effort to grab you. Its long arms are outstretched, three long clas protruding from each one. They are razor sharp, you know it because of the graze your right flank. You let out a sharp hiss, involuntarily slowing. The tentacles grasps you, pulling you towards the nightmare creature as you claw at the ground. It's useless. You've been caught, just like in your dream, except this time, it's real.


"I'll see you in your dreams"

Name to be decided

Something's off. You're not sure what it is at first, but something doesn't feel right.

The air seems almost heavy, and a sense of dread pulls at you, whispering for you to go the opposite direction. But you keep traveling in the direction you were headed, almost as if you were being pulled along by something you can't quite place. Even as the fear lingers and grows stronger, you keep moving forward.

The tunnel opens up into a cave you know well. You've been through it many times with no trouble, but this time is different. A sense of fear fills the air, almost like a fog, and you can make out the scent of death. Just in front of you sits something, back hunched at an awkward angle, and you can make out the sounds of bones cracking and crunching. Despite this, you tell yourself it's nothing. Just another creature, right? Nothing to be worried about.

And so, with this thought in mind, you ease forwards, calling out to the creature, offering a greeting. The moment your voice rang out, the crunching stopped. The creature was all too still, silent except for heavy, raspy breathing that you had managed to make up now that you were closer. Was this creature sick? The awkward, wet breathing didn't sound right. You called out again, this time a question. Are you okay?

This time, the creature does move, uncurling a long, whiplike tail from around itself. Long, delicate ears rise up, and the creature moves its head, just slightly. From there, you can see enough to be frozen in your spot. Wide, circular eyes stare at you, pupiless and unblinking, glowing an acidic green. A trail of...something trails down from its eyes, just slightly. That's not what bothers you the most, though. It's the creature's mouth.

Twisted permanently into a grin, the creature's mouth glows with the same odd substance as its eyes, slightly open as if it cannot close its jaws. And maybe it can't; three wider spots are scattered throughout the grin, the same acidic green dripping and hanging like drool. It's then that you realize the creaking and cracking is the creature; it gets up, slowly, the bones making an unnatural cracking noise as it heads towards you, head tilted slightly to one side and those unblinking eyes staring at you as it moves awkwardly, almost like an insect would.

The rugged, wet breathing grows louder, but now you can almost make out a message. Help me. Help me. Help me. Helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme. It's mouth doesn't move with the words; at least, not that you can see. Every moment brings it closer, and the words become more rushed, the same thing over and over, as if it were the only thing it could say. Maybe it couldn't say anything else. A thought hits you, sudden and terrifying; maybe it was copying the words from its last victim.

You want to move, you want to run, but your legs seem frozen. Leave me alone. You manage to spit out, although, with the shaking of your voice, you doubt you sound very intimidating. Despite that, the creature pauses for just a moment, and then you can make out the words mixed in with heavy breathing once more. Help me leave me alone help me leave me alone help- It stops, close enough that you can feel the breath on you, and it is still for a moment or two longer. And then it's jaws pull back, at an unnatural angle, with jagged teeth set further back from the roof of it's mouth. Its jaws are wider than you expect, and, near the top of it's throat is a gem you can barely make out. A long tongue lolls out, sideways, the same acidic green as everything else.

In your panic, you're frozen and it takes everything you can manage to look away from this odd creature. As the awkwardly shaped teeth bite down, you hear one last raspy breath.

Name/Title: ??????
Element/Path: Arcane/Master
Stone and Location: Emerald/Back of throat
Other:

Not sure if I'm actually eligible or not, but I would be remiss not to propose at least something given my history.

They said it was a myth, a legend, a silly story made up to scare gembound who have given stone and life to see a next generation come to being. It wasn't supposed to be real. Even so I saw it with my own eyes clinging with gangly limbs on the chrysalis I had been keeping watch over for the past few days. The pale white creature was no larger than a hare, with a body shape like a distorted version of the humanoids told in the Blacksmith's tales cycles ago. Each arm and leg was twice as long as they proportionally should have been with joints that seemed to be able to move in all directions. Its body was long and gaunt with ribs clearly showing like it hadn't eaten a day in its life. Long silky black hair flowed along its back like a mane with each strand crawling along the chrysalis like a worm looking for a crack to escape into. Most horrify of all, however, was its face. Blank, smooth, perfect in complexion, beautiful were it not for its distinct lack of a mouth and large juvenile eyes which secreted a red liquid like blood. I don't know what it was doing to the poor new life within that chrysalis, if it was doing anything at all. There was certainly some magic going on if its hair was any indication, but it's hard to say for certain. If the legends are to be believed though, I mourn for the unborn child. They say it seeks out the weak, attaching itself to unaware lesser gembound and drawing their blood through the strands of its hair to sustain itself. They say it uses some perversion of animal magic to relocate the organs within its host just for fun, or in a few tales because it derives more sustenance from the pain that causes. They say if it has not attached itself to a lesser gembound in a while it will seek out a chrysalis and corrupts its growth, causing its gem to settle into a lethal location and shortening its life. No one in this age has even heard of the old tradition of leaving sacrifices near the young to distract it and most ancients are too busy to spread baseless rumors, but perhaps it is time to bring that practice back to life. If this poor youth emerges with mere cycles left to live then I propose that we have definitive proof that the Pontianak is real and threatens our very existence.

Name/Title: Pontianak (derived from folklore, can be changed)
Element/Path: Animal/Master
Stone and Location: Seraphinite skull, including a fused jaw
Other: Sustains self through blood absorption and use of its element

Name/Title: Undecided
Element/Path: Animal/Genius
Stone and Location: Undecided
Other:
For the most part, this creature resembles a cougar.

Of course, there are some major differences. Like its furlessness, for example. But the most striking thing about it is its coloring. The furless skin is colored and even textured to appear like a hunk of meat when it curls up. Several patches of yellow-white could be considered "bones" to those who don't look closely enough. There is even the smell of freshly killed prey emanating from it.

All this is a strategy to attract prey. Gembounds who come seeking an easy food source are injected with a potent venom akin to that of a rattlesnake's through two fixed fangs to make them easier to catch. Once the prey is subdued, it devours their heart and sucks the magic from their gem for nourishment, but leaves the rest of the carcass untouched.

Of course, that's only what it does for survival. What's a character without a little personality? This creature's whole life mission is to inflict torment on others. After all, what's the point of life if it doesn't have a good struggle to spice it up? IT'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, DARLING. It even tries to come up with unique ways of torture for every one of its victims. While it realizes it won't be seen in a good light by others, that's only because they haven't realized the good it's doing for their characters! Despite all that, it is hesitant to get itself in dangerous situations. It hardly wants to get hurt.

Name/Title: Called "The Masked Merchant", and he has seemed to have adopted that title as a name. (y'all can make up other names too, maybe better ones lol)
Element/Path: ?????
Stone and Location: red cat's eye gem as an eye on the palm of hand.
Other:



A figure, looming seven feet tall and cloaked in a strange, black cloth, has wares to offer if you are interested. The empty gaze of his his bone white, antlered mask falls upon you, patiently awaiting your response. He seems friendly enough, there's something about him that unnerves you. Perhaps it's his costume, or the way his form is unnaturally hunched over, for maybe its because there is something is writhing underneath his cloak. You would have refused his offer if it wasn't for magicks he showed you, spells and magick items not of this cave. You did not know such things could even exist, yet, they were all in your grasp. It is very tempting.

There was a catch, however, in return, he wants your gem. Not right away of course, first, conditions must be met, conditons you get to make. You tell him, that he can only collect your gem on the peak of the Spire. You smile to yourself, knowing full well that there was no way either of you can climb it and live. Surprisingly, he accepts your terms and slides out a spindly, pale green humaniod arm from his cloak and reaches towards you. His gnarled fingers unfurl to reveal a closed eye on the palm of his hand that opens up to what looks like a glowing red cat eye's ruby. He presses it against your own gem and a horrible, burning sensation can be felt throught your entire body.

"THE CONTRACT IS SEALED." His voice bellows, this time sounding unnatural, like a blasphemous choir of gargling echos. It sends a shiver down your spine.

And with that, he is gone, seemingly vanished into thin air. You are left alone in the dark tunnel, wondering what had just happened. You feel new magick course through you. He had given you exactly what you wanted, but his words echo in your head and you a vague sense of dread creeping towards you. Best to put it out of your mind, for now.

----------------------------------
Very little is known about the strange being known as "The Masked Merchant" other than he is very, very old, older than the ancients perhaps, and no one living has ever seen the creature that lies behind the mask and cloak. There is definitely something under there, as his form shifts and writhes underneath, never maintaining one form for long. The only part of him that can be seen are his two, humanoid arms he sometimes slides out, one which possesess and eye on it palm that opens to reveal a glowing gem when in use. He is aware of the gembounds' love for Astaea, perhaps that is why his decorative, antlered mask is inspired by him.

"The Masked Merchant" claims to be from beyond the realm of the caves and other than doing some... questionable... business with its denizens and meddling in gembound affairs, his true motives are unknown. His claim to origins from beyond seemed to be backed up by the strange, alien magick he uses, as there is none like it within these caves and it seems frightenly omnipotent. True to his name-sake, the Masked Merchant is always interested in doing business with a gembound. The greater the gift he bestows, the more terrible price they have to pay. His favored payment is in the form of one's own gem, but not always and sometimes, his "gifts" may come with unwanted side effects. Clever, decietful, and awfully manipulative, he loves twisting words and finding loopholes in his contracts to get what he wants and can't resist pacts where someone's gem is at stake, however, he always keep his end of the bargain.

When not called upon, his sudden appearence in a area can be a terrible omen, usually foretelling a disaster to come, some which may be his doing...

It is clear he knows he lets on about the true nature of Origin cave and what lies beyond, but is it worth it to find out?

Submissions are now closed; thank you for submissions, everyone!
We will use all submissions in our event. The winner will be our feature spookie next month!

Voting will be open for four days!
Please only vote once!

Voting is now closed.
Our featured spookmaster will be "Hag-rteho the Masked Merchant"!

Hag-rteho and his lackeys will see you guys in October...! >8)